Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Its Raining Cats and Dogs

When walking through Makino, or Hirakatashi, or even Shinsaibashi for that matter, one sight that is extremely common is of cats roaming the street.  This raises the question of where all these cats come from. While some of these are family cats and pets most are stray, abandoned or feral cats.  This is an issue that has become quite serious in Japan.
A couple stray cats at the park near my seminar house.

            Many of these stray cats have come from once loving homes but were cast out when they lost their style and appeal.  Not too many years ago Japan experienced a large “pet boom”; this was an explosion in the purchasing of pets, mostly dogs and cats. People purchased these animals because it was the cool or fashionable thing to do. Because of this pets were purchased much in the same way fashion accessories are, without any thought to the long-term responsibilities.  This scenario is reflective of the brand mentality that is often attributed to the Japanese public.  People buy what is popular at the time and simply discard it when it loses its luster, and these pets fit perfectly into this cycle.
            While many pets were kept in loving homes, many others were simply released from their owners’ homes and turned out onto the streets and into the parks, populating the country with abandoned animals.  One of the best examples of this I have seen is a park not far from Seminar House 3 where at anyone time you can find dozens upon dozens of cats. Their owners have obviously abandoned many of these but some of them have been born feral as the offspring of abandoned cats, which congregate, in that area.

A stray cat that jumped up onto a bench next to me, to beg for the food I was eating.

            The people’s reaction to these cats seems to differ across the board depending on the person.  There are some people in the neighborhood who put out water and food for these cats and enjoy having them around.  Many others find them a nuisance. In fact there are so many problems with these strays that there are trucks that drive around and act as portable gas chambers exterminating these cats. This provides an interesting perspective into Japanese consumerism and the relationship between people and animals in Japan. 

Some links to sites about abondoned pets in Japan and Stray animal control methods can be found below:
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/25/japan-stray-animal-death-trucks
www.aapn.org/japandogs.html

1 comment:

  1. The pet boom seemed to be more about dogs than cats. The links you provide seem to focus on dogs as well. Stray cats have long been a problem in Japan. A student from last semester wrote about this as well.

    http://noratori.blogspot.com/2011/04/stray-cats-of-japan.html

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